It’s a day that had split the feelings of Evertonians long before it had even happened. The departure of David Moyes to assume the post vacated by Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United has left some fans rejoicing, happy to see the back of a man who “bottled it in the big games” and slumped to early round cup defeats to the likes of Oldham and Brentford. But the majority of Evertonians are at least a little concerned right now about the future of a club removed of its talismanic manager. Moyes, in 11 years at the club, had taken the Toffees from relegation fodder to perennial challengers for a European place, doing so on a shoestring budget, and outgunning local rivals Liverpool while having access to less than one sixth of the Reds transfer budget during his tenure.

Nevertheless the day has come and it is now time for the all-too-often underwhelming Everton board, headed by the much maligned Bill Kenwright, to step up and find the right manager to lead the club forward. Plenty of names have been thrown in to the hat, but it is anyone’s guess as to who will take the reins. We can, however, speculate on the effectiveness of some of the proposed candidates.

Roberto Martinez

One of many managers who have the ability but lack the resume, Martinez is best known for helping current club Wigan stave off relegation from the Premier League for the last few seasons (though he might have blown it this season). What few people mention about Martinez is that he was also the manager instrumental in reviving Swansea and implementing the system that has brought them such great success of late. There is no doubt that Martinez is tactically adept and willing to implement new tactics to get the best out of his players, (something Moyes has come under fire for not doing in the past) but there are concerns that his style of play will not fare well on Merseyside, it will certainly be a struggle to adapt the tactics he uses at Wigan to the current Everton Squad. It will however be crucial if he is appointed that he gets the most out of the current squad as he likely won’t have much to spend.

Vitor Pereira

A man who has supposedly recently expressed interest in taking the helm, Pereira is the second coming of AVB (or the third coming of José Mourinho, I guess). While his side at Porto have had a successful season, advancing past the group stages in a tricky champions league group and maintaining an undefeated record as the domestic league draws to a close, there are worries about his transition to the Premier League. It took Villas-Boas a failed season at Chelsea and a significant transfer budget with Tottenham to find success in the premier league. While their are no doubts about the tactical nous of both the managers on the continental stage the premier league can be an entirely different beast. This could very easliy be the downfall of a manager like Pereira should he be appointed.

Phil Neville

Despite having only spent the second half of his career with Everton, there is no doubt that Neville is as passionate about the club as anyone. He’s working towards getting his international management badges, a sure sign that he has a future in management. He’s not the man to lead the club forward right now however, with no previous management experience at a top level. In all likelihood he’ll continue his playing career at another club, though a position as an assistant to the new manager, whoever that may be, could work very nicely for all parties involved.

Martin O’Neill

no. just, no.

Neil Lennon

One champions league victory over Barcelona is not enough to convince me that Negative Neil is anywhere near good enough to take the helm at Everton. He has had success at Celtic, though that’s not much of an achievement, and has done a good job of finding players with excellent potential and converting them into solid first team contributors. Unfortunately, he’s reached his ceiling in the Scottish league, and any Premier League club that makes a move might just find themselves looking for a new manager a year later.

Thomas Tuchel

One of my personal favourite managers, Tuchel has taken an uninspiring Mainz team to new heights following in the footsteps of one-time mentor Jurgen Klopp. Though Tuchel lacks experience, particularly with anything outside of German football, he has proven to be highly adaptable and willing to try new methods in order to succeed. His tactical philosophy suits both the Premier League and Everton’s current squad. With a bit of money – he’s used to working with little at Mainz – he could make the few necessary signings to bring the now famous German 4-2-3-1 to the Premier League.

Malky Mackay

Mackay was being linked to the club in the January transfer window as a possible replacement for Moyes, long before his decision to leave had been announced. He’s had great success in the past year, winning the league with a club in Cardiff going through their own turmoil, though he has admittedly had a considerable budget to work with and inherited an already strong squad when he took over in 2011. That is not to say Mackay is not qualified for the job, he has proven himself to be a capable manager, and is only a few years older than Moyes was when he made the considerable jump from Preston to Everton in 2002. He’s not going to turn heads or strike fear in the opponents if he is appointed, but the club could certainly do alot worse. *cough* O’Neill *cough*.

Duncan Ferguson

Look, I don’t want to be the one to have to tell this man that he’s not getting the job. Maybe his good friend Steffen can break the news.

Michael Laudrup

In my opinion he is one of the ideal candidates for the job. Although he only has one year of proven Premier League experience and has seen his Swansea side struggle towards the end of this season, he clearly understands how to succeed in all aspects of management. Unfortunately, it’s going to cost Everton 10 Million Pounds to pry him away from the swans and that’s something the club just can’t afford.

No matter who Everton ultimately appoint as manager, it is going to draw a mixed reaction from the fans. Undoubtedly there are big shoes to fill and it will be a total club effort to push on from the work that Moyes has done over the past 11 years, but it is certainly achievable with the right appointment. Hopefully we can all be sure that the correct decision was made with a victory when Moyes makes his first return to what I’m sure will be a rocking Goodison Park next season.

Firstly I would like to say a big thank you for stopping by here and checking this out. But enough about you, let’s focus on me!

Who am I?

My name is Tom Pink (unfortunately that was my last name in kindergarten too, much to the humour of everyone else). I’m an 18 year old Australian studying Sports Management & Development. I’m currently on exchange at The University of Oregon (go ducks) but my main course of study is being undertaken at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. I’m a diehard fan of Everton Football Club but I take a massive interest in almost every sport I can set my eyes on. Except for archery, nobody likes archery.

What is this blog?

I’ve always enjoyed writing, particularly when it’s focused on the topics I enjoy and isn’t like the millions of essays I wrote on Medusa in high school. My life is consumed by sports and thus my mind is contstanly filled with ideas on a wide range of sporting content, from the impact of sponsorship deals (I’m totally going to go buy more levis’ now there’s a football stadium with their name on it, not!) to the seemingly inevitable nightmare the rest of europe is about to experience with the new german football revolution. I hope I can bring a unique insight into some of the hottest topics in sport today while providing a bit of humour along the way (see; this ridiculous photobomb by Tim Duncan).

I hope you’ll all stick around and see what else I bring to the table. I can’t promise this kind of special, but I can almost gaurantee it will be way better than this. Unless, you know, you’re into that kind of stuff.